TODAY'S WEATHER: Scattered flurries with a high of 31. SPORTS: Terry Allen says he helped the football program.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
TALK TO US: Contact Kursten Phelps or Leita Schultes at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 28, 2001
WWW.KANSAN.COM
ISSUE 63 VOLUME 117
KU author's book about bioterrorism is selling
By Lauren Beatty and Sarah Hill Special to the Kansan
A University of Kansas professor had no idea that a book he wrote three months ago would make him an expert on bioterrorism after Sept. 11.
Jack Brown, professor of molecular biosciences, finished his book, Don't Touch that Doorknob! How Germs Can Zap You, and How You Can Zap Back, in late August.
When the book was released on Oct. 1, Brown became a source for anthrax information. He received several calls from national radio shows, all of them wanting to know about anthrax and other forms of bioterrorism.
But those inquiries were misdirected.
"I am not a bioterrorism expert," Brown said. "However, when a person writes a book, they apparently are assumed to be an expert on all of the contents."
Brown said he wrote the book to educate the general public about good and bad germs and how people can protect themselves against germs by using basic common sense. He said that being informed was the best form of protection.
"Knowledge removes a lot of fear." Brown said.
Brown sadd.
The Barnes and Noble Booksellers Web site has already sold 54,796 copies. The book is ranked as the No. 13 bestseller in the "germs" category.
Brown's book focuses mainly on germs in everyday life and how they can help or hurt people. One chapter of the book is dedicated to bioterrorism issues.
ison issues.
In that chapter, Brown wrote about organisms like anthrax or smallpox, which have been used as biological warfare agents in the past, and substances that might be used today.
"The number of times these agents have been used is very small, relative to the total number of wars," Brown said. "One reason to explain this is that it is such an unacceptable kind of response."
"These weapons are easy to distribute and hide." Brown said.
response. Brown said to prevent the use of these deadly agents, it would take an unprecedented effort among nations.
Brown also wrote about the current emphasis on flu shots. He said now, with the threat of anthrax, people are more likely to get a flu shot because they can assume they have another disease besides the deadly bacteria and focus on other diagnoses.
"Many diseases, including anthrax, start with flu-like symptoms," Brown said.
Brown suggests using risk-assessment and talking to a physician when deciding whether to get a flu shot.
"If I was a young person working in a Senate office building, or a postal worker on the East Coast, I would definitely consider getting vaccinated," Brown said.
Cathy Thrasher, clinical coordinator of support services at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said the staff at Watkins had given out 350 shots since the first shipment arrived on Nov. 6. Watkins still has 900 doses left. Thrasher said the anthrax scare had not seemed to affect students' decisions to get vaccinated.
"I don't think it's much different than what we did this time last year," she said. "People are just getting their regular flu shots."
Swept into poverty
Contact Beatty or Hill at 864-4810
some custodians, secretaries and craftsmen at the University don't earn enough to pay the bills
Story by Paul Smith Photos by En-Kae Chang
Johnathan Neal walks each morning to work at KU's Art and Design Building. A custodian, he can't afford $80 for a staff parking permit with the $400 check he takes home every two weeks to support himself, his girlfriend and his three children.
Neal admits to feeling some resentment on paydays when he empties a staff or faculty trashcan containing a discarded pay stub for $1.500.
He collects his bills in a stack — rent, credit cards, car insurance, child support. Neal is behind most of them.
"When I come home and see the bills, it just tears me up," said Neal, who was evicted from his apartment two weeks ago after falling behind on his rent.
Neal is one of 138 full-time employees at the University of Kansas whose before-tax earnings place them within the poverty range for a family of four, according to federal guidelines. Salaries paid to KU's classified staff—a designation for state workers that includes custodians, secretaries and skilled craftsmans such as plumbers and electricians—lag behind private industry salaries. That gap has widened in recent years, with state workers getting small raises. And with a tight state budget, raises next year seem unlikely.
Even when the state had extra money, KU's classified employees complained that they received small raises while the University awarded up to 7 percent salary increases to the faculty and administrators whose offices they staff, clean and repair.
"I really do need a raise," Neal said. "You've got to buy food."
A raise is on the minds of many classified staff, said Dennis Constance, a custodial supervisor at the University for 28 years. He said that a classified employee without a family might subsist on state wages, but those with dependents often need a second job.
"A person ought to be able to earn enough to adequately support a family with just one full-time job," said Constance, who serves as legislative director for the KU Classified Senate.
The Classified Senate asserts that the 1,600 University employees it represents are underpaid and that scheduled raises have been delayed.
"The State Legislature, because of the way things are structured, is the key player when it comes to staff wages," Constance said. "The University administration is in a strange position in that it doesn't have wage control over a lot of its employees."
Because classified staff at the University are state employees, the State Legislature in Topeka sets their wages, benefits and contributions to the mandatory Kansas Public
SEE RAISES PAGE 6A
Local artist Lora Jost sketches additions to plans for a mural depicting poetry by Langston Hughes. Jost is working with Lawrence artist Dave Loewenstein (right) and several Lawrence High School students to create an interactive mural that will be displayed in the Art and Design gallery at KU and later at the Langston Hughes symposium.
Exhibit to show mural creation
Artist to aid students in interpreting works by Langston Hughes
Muralist David Loewenstein is working with seven Lawrence High School students to create a mural that interprets ten Langston Hughes poems, including the poem Let America Be America Again. He said the students were
By Eve Lamborn Kansan staff writer
A local artist is using an interactive approach to create an exhibit for the University of Kansas' Art and Design Gallery.
He said the finished mural would be on display at the Lawrence Public Library starting in January, and will be available to see as part of KU's Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration from Feb. 7 to Feb. 10.
"Murals address people's concerns about local and national
"The show's about the process I use to create murals," he said. "You'll be able to see the progression of the work over the next couple of weeks."
issues, and the times in which we live and work," Loewenstein said.
"It's a piece in action in a gallery space, a piece in the making," she said.
Lora Jost, a local artist who is collaborating with Loewenstein on the project, said murals were interactive works by their nature because artists created them in public places over time.
The Art and Design Gallery hours are 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, and 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Contact Lamborn at 864-4810
By Jeremy Clarkson Kansan staff writer
Greeks rock revue change tradition with all-female skit
The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi sororities will make history at the 53rd annual Rock Chalk Revue, Look Both Ways, with the first allfemale group.
Traditionally, participants for the revue were made up of one fraternity and one sorority. When the revue first began, it consisted of an all-male cast.
Megan Murphy, Leawood junior and co-director of the performance, said both sororities had thought about pairing with another sorority for the revue this year.
year. "We were nervous to approach each other," said Murphy, member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Murphy, the sororites finally agreed to pair up. Murphy said she was nervous about whether the judges would favor an all-female cast.
Once the group learned of this year's theme, they began working on their set design and the script for their performance. The group will perform a skit called Doin' Time, a play about a women's correctional facility.
Brienne Brannan, Rogers, Ark., senior, and codirector of the performance, said the skit would focus on a woman who was put in jail for a jewelry heist. During the play, the woman struggles to fit in with other prison inmates and, in addition, tries to prove her innocence.
Brannan said she hoped the play would surprise the audience by the way the characters are developed.
"I can't spoil the ending," she said.
In the coming weeks, the all-female group will begin rehearsals and development of their set. Traditionally, the fraternity counterpart would help develop the set.
But Murphy said a design student helped with the set this year, and had all the specific plans made. She said the sorority was also organizing its members to help build the set.
The revue will take place from March 7 to 9 at the Lied Center, with proceeds going to the United Way of Douglas County. A total of five groups will perform.
COMING IN TOMORROW'S KANSAN
Contact Clarkson at 864-4810
INSIDETODAY
ATTACK NEWS ... 5A
HILLTOPICS ... 8A
WEATHER ... 6B
CROSSWORD ... 6B
BASKETBALL: The Jayhawks return to Allen Fieldhouse to take on Pittsburg State.
SEX COLUMN: Meghan's back.
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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